Niceties mentioned the "five principles of Japanese cooking" in her guest post last month. Apparently they should all be part of traditional cooking. They go something like: Five colours - white, red, yellow, green, black/other dark colours Five tastes - salty, sour, sweet, bitter, umami/spicy (which is right?) Five cooking methods - simmering, grilling, steaming, frying, aemono (cooked salads) Five senses - taste, smell, sight, sound, touch